Walking a tight rope

Jun 16, 2012 12:53 IST

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Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda walks the high wire from the US side to the Canadian side over the Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Reuters/Mark Blinch

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Aerialist Nik Wallenda tighropes over the Niagara Falls in New York. ABC televised the event and insisted the daredevil wear a teathered harness to prevent live coverage of a potentially deadly fall 190 feet into the churning torrent below. AFP/John Moore

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Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda celebrates after walking the high wire from the US side to the Canadian side over the Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Reuters/Mike Cassese

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Aerialist Nik Wallenda tightropes over the Niagara Falls. Wallenda walked across the 1,800 foot long, 2 inch-wide wire as the first person to cross directly over the falls from the US into Canada. AFP/John Moore

Famed tightrope walker Nik Wallenda completed the first walk across Niagara Falls in over a century, braving winds and heavy spray in his historic feat. AFP/Geoff Robins

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The seventh-generation member of the famed Flying Wallendas had long dreamed of pulling off the stunt, never before attempted. AP/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn

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Nik Wallenda pumps his fist as he completes his 1,800 feet-long tightrope walk over the brink of the Niagara Falls in Ontario. AP/The Canadian Press, Aaron Vincent Elkaim

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Spectators watch tightrope walker Nik Wallenda walk the high wire from the US side to the Canadian side over the Horseshoe Falls in Niagara, Ontario. Reuters/Mike Cassese

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Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda walks the high wire from the US side to the Canadian side over the Horseshoe Falls in Niagara, Ontario. Reuters/Mike Cassese

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Nik Wallenda looks out prior to his tightrope walk in Niagara Falls, NY to attempt what nobody has done before: A high wire walk directly over the precipice at Niagara Falls and 190 feet above the churning torrent below. AP/David Duprey

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Spectators check out the view where Nik Wallenda walked a tightrope over Niagara Falls in Ontario. AP/The Canadian Press, Aaron Vincent Elkaim

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Nik Wallenda greets fans after inspecting the wire prior to his walk across Niagara Falls in NY. AP/David Duprey

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A family looks as the Maid of the Mist turns around at Niagara Falls, where Nik Wallenda walked a 550 metre-long tightrope in Niagara Falls, Ontario. AP/The Canadian Press, Aaron Vincent Elkaim

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New York State Parks employee Evyn Costanzo monitors peregrine falcons along the Niagara Gorge before Nik Wallenda's walk across Niagara Falls on a wire in NY. AP/Gary Wiepert